AW937 GrandNew VIP Japan

AgustaWestland, a Finmeccanica company, and Kaigai Aviotech Corporation are pleased to announce the first sale of a GrandNew light twin helicopter for corporate/VIP transport in the Japanese market. The aircraft is scheduled to be delivered to its customer in late 2012.

The GrandNew in addition to having now been selected for VIP/corporate transport role in Japan is all ready in service performing electronic news gathering and emergency medical services. The large cabin and baggage bay combined with its performance and advanced avionics suite make the GrandNew the ideal helicopter for a wide range of roles.

The aircraft will feature a five seat “Elite” cabin interior and 5-cell fuel system giving a maximum range of over 460 nm (850 km). In the cockpit the aircraft will be equipped with the Enhanced Vision System (EVS) EVS-1500 which provides a supplemental enhanced view of the outside world. It uses an infrared (IR) sensor to provide an additional visual perspective and is particularly effective at night, in smoke, haze, and in smog as well as rain, snow, and fog. A Euronav V Euroavionics digital map interfaced to Flight Management System also provides enhanced situational awareness and along with the EVS is displayed on a 8.4” LCD display unit. Other equipment to be fitted will include a Traffic Avoidance System and a Bendix/King RDR 2000 Bendix/King weather radar.

The GrandNew features the most modern developments in avionics while retaining the Grand’s outstanding performance and features. The GrandNew is the first type certified light twin (CS/JAR/FAR 27) to enter service with a new EFIS featuring Synthetic Vision and the first helicopter in this class on the market fully compliant with the latest advanced global positioning system-based navigation requirements for all weather operations. The GrandNew offers operators unprecedented abilities to exploit the advantages of a helicopter.

Orders for more than 300 helicopters from the Grand series have been placed by over 180 customers in almost 40 countries worldwide, in order to perform many tasks including VIP/corporate and passenger transport, EMS, SAR, electronic newsgathering, harbour pilot shuttle, maritime patrol and water pollution monitoring.

AgustaWestland's success in the Japanese commercial helicopter market continues to grow with strong sales in recent years across its complete product range. This latest contract in particular further expands the success of the AgustaWestland range of light twin types in Japan with more than 40 units ordered for a wide variety of missions. AgustaWestland opened a new regional business headquarters in Tokyo in 2008 in support of its growing business in Japan. The commercial helicopter fleet in Japan is also supported by three official service centres, which provide maintenance and repair services, and by a spare parts centre headquartered at the Tokyo Heliport.